August 17, 2025 • 17 mins
7 You are judging by appearances.[a] If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. 8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present. 12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. 17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[b] 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that
they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we
belong to Christ just as much as they do. So,
even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority of
(00:59):
the Lord gave us for building you up rather than
tearing you down, I will not be ashamed for it.
I do not want to seem to be trying to
frighten you with my letters. For some say his letters
(01:21):
are waiting and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive.
His speaking amounts to nothing. Such people should realize that
they are in letters in our letters when they are absent,
(01:49):
we will be in our actions when we are present.
We do not dare classify or compare ourselves with anyone
who could commence themselves. When they venture themselves by themselves
(02:14):
and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. We, however,
will not boast beyond proper limits. But if will confine
our boasting to the sphere of service to God Himself
(02:35):
as assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you,
we are not going too far in our boasting as
we as would be the case if we had not
(02:55):
come to you. For we did not get as far
as you with the Gospel of Christ. Neither do we
go beyond our limits of boasting of our work done
by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues
(03:20):
to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand,
so that we can preach the Gospel in the regions
beyond you. For we do not want to boast about
(03:40):
our work unready boasts about work already done someone and
someone else's territory. But let the one who boasts boasts
(04:01):
in the Lord. For it is not the one who
commends himself who is approved, but it is the one
the Lord commends. You know, this whole thing is and
(04:25):
and these letters they kind of go back and forth
a little bit, and and at times they may be
a little hard to understand. Well, what can we boast about?
And what is and when does boasting become judgment against
(04:45):
someone else? And what does it mean to judge someone else?
And not? In over end, lets say this way, what
does it mean when we judge someone else and then
step out of side of our own sphere? And that's
(05:16):
what starts to become difficult, because by human nature, we
like to categorize people in comparison to our own selves,
that we like to offer help to those because we
see something in them that is similar to ours, to ourselves,
(05:37):
And that's where it starts to become the point that
if we see someone in need, just simply offer them
help because they need it, not because we see something
in them that reminds them of ourselves, or because there's
a similarity to our group to that person, but just
(06:01):
because they actually need it. To do the work of God,
regardless of what the other person may look like, to
do the work of God, and just do the work
of God because God has committed us to do it.
(06:22):
He has placed a commission upon us to minister his work.
Now there's a lot being said right there that word ministry,
and well look at it for those of you who
(06:42):
live in a parliamentary system, that we have different ministries. Okay,
for you who you guys who live in in like
in the United States where they were listening to this,
you're saying, well, we have departments, Well, those are departments
(07:04):
of service. Ministry literally means a point of service. It
isn't a point of a ministry is not a point
of boasting. It is a point of service. How do
you serve the people? How do you serve those who
(07:25):
are around us? And that's part of what the point
is that we cannot judge people by their appearances and
then say, oh, well they one they can't help look
at them, well they look like nothing, or judging someone
(07:48):
and saying well, they're never going to amount to anything anyway,
so why should I help them? They're destined to be nothing.
It isn't for us to judge who isn't able or
who doesn't deserve. What is up for us to do
(08:13):
is even if the person doesn't look like they can
help us, God send them to us because they can help.
So be warm, accepting and grateful because the help is there.
(08:33):
It may not And that's the whole point is that
God doesn't always send the help in the way that
we think. In another episode, another one of my talks,
I talk about that we pray to God, we pray
(08:54):
to God for strength. Then instead of wam bam, we
have strength, we're strong, and we would walk around strutting
our strength. God sends us an opportunity to be strong
(09:15):
for someone else, to stand by someone else and help them.
He sends you to that person so that one Ultimately,
the person who needs help gets the help that they
actually need. Because God sent you and two so that
(09:41):
you can see for yourself that you can help, that
you are strong enough, that you have the might within you,
because who put the might there? Who put that strength there?
You see where this is going. God knows what's in
(10:04):
us because he put it there. He sent you to
that next person, gave you the opportunity to show so
that you can see yourself, witness for yourself what He
placed inside of you to answer your prayer. That's how
(10:33):
God works. It isn't. It isn't what we as human
beings think it should be. When we think of God,
we think of spite or try. I say smite that
(10:59):
He He's going to give us the ability to smite
somebody when we say we need strength, But He sends
us is compassion to lift another, another one of his
children up. So stop judging and learn to help start
(11:26):
your own ministry because ministry means a point of service.
He has given us the ability. God has given us
the ability to serve all of our fellow human beings.
(11:46):
He has given us talents. He's given us abilities, great
abilities when we actually use them, especially use them for
the purpose that He intended us to use them for.
And that's part of the point of boasting. But let
(12:09):
the one who boasts boasts in the Lord. He's going
to boast about what it is that he can do,
not in a er I am strong sort of way,
but in a I'm here, allow me to help and
(12:35):
assist you away. Well, we start to see the differences
of we start to become more compassionate people and believe
it or not, Look, there's there's a part of our
(12:55):
brain that that you know that there's a lot of
those corporate can trollers they don't want us to know
about it. There's a gland in the front of our
brain that allows us to see who is being compassionate,
(13:15):
who is working for God. And when we start to
be compassionate towards others and we start to let those
(13:36):
controls go, stop fighting for the latest, greatest stuff because
it's just stuff, and we allow our spirit to grow
as we serve. People can see by our example to serve,
(13:58):
also serve within our sphere of service to God himself
as we help our brothers and sisters, God's children. And
that's kind of what the point is. That's kind of
(14:23):
what God wants us to do. He wants us to
see that He has put within us the strength and
the ability to help another human being, to help in situations,
and have the wisdom to know when to do ourselves
(14:47):
or to look to a friend to assist us, so
that we can assist another one of our brothers and sisters,
to know when Okay, that's not my sphere, but it's
(15:08):
their sphere, so we'll invite them to help. When we
form a loving and compassionate community, people see it, They
see it within each other, and others want to move
(15:33):
into our community and partake in that love that we
are sharing. So it's a simple prayer. Shall we Lord,
just help us to understand our purpose, our sphere of
(15:56):
service to You, our sphere of service to our fellow
brothers and sisters around us. Give us that spirit so
that we're brave enough and wise enough to do what
(16:21):
is within us, what you placed there, and to know
when we should ask for others in our community to
help and join in. Allow us to be that walking
example of one of your workers. Allow us to minister
(16:48):
to our fellow human beings with compassion in only boasting
about this is what God you want us to do. Amen,
You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that
they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we
belong to Christ just as much as they do. So,
even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority of
(00:59):
the Lord gave us for building you up rather than
tearing you down, I will not be ashamed for it.
I do not want to seem to be trying to
frighten you with my letters. For some say his letters
(01:21):
are waiting and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive.
His speaking amounts to nothing. Such people should realize that
they are in letters in our letters when they are absent,
(01:49):
we will be in our actions when we are present.
We do not dare classify or compare ourselves with anyone
who could commence themselves. When they venture themselves by themselves
(02:14):
and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. We, however,
will not boast beyond proper limits. But if will confine
our boasting to the sphere of service to God Himself
(02:35):
as assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you,
we are not going too far in our boasting as
we as would be the case if we had not
(02:55):
come to you. For we did not get as far
as you with the Gospel of Christ. Neither do we
go beyond our limits of boasting of our work done
by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues
(03:20):
to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand,
so that we can preach the Gospel in the regions
beyond you. For we do not want to boast about
(03:40):
our work unready boasts about work already done someone and
someone else's territory. But let the one who boasts boasts
(04:01):
in the Lord. For it is not the one who
commends himself who is approved, but it is the one
the Lord commends. You know, this whole thing is and
(04:25):
and these letters they kind of go back and forth
a little bit, and and at times they may be
a little hard to understand. Well, what can we boast about?
And what is and when does boasting become judgment against
(04:45):
someone else? And what does it mean to judge someone else?
And not? In over end, lets say this way, what
does it mean when we judge someone else and then
step out of side of our own sphere? And that's
(05:16):
what starts to become difficult, because by human nature, we
like to categorize people in comparison to our own selves,
that we like to offer help to those because we
see something in them that is similar to ours, to ourselves,
(05:37):
And that's where it starts to become the point that
if we see someone in need, just simply offer them
help because they need it, not because we see something
in them that reminds them of ourselves, or because there's
a similarity to our group to that person, but just
(06:01):
because they actually need it. To do the work of God,
regardless of what the other person may look like, to
do the work of God, and just do the work
of God because God has committed us to do it.
(06:22):
He has placed a commission upon us to minister his work.
Now there's a lot being said right there that word ministry,
and well look at it for those of you who
(06:42):
live in a parliamentary system, that we have different ministries. Okay,
for you who you guys who live in in like
in the United States where they were listening to this,
you're saying, well, we have departments, Well, those are departments
(07:04):
of service. Ministry literally means a point of service. It
isn't a point of a ministry is not a point
of boasting. It is a point of service. How do
you serve the people? How do you serve those who
(07:25):
are around us? And that's part of what the point
is that we cannot judge people by their appearances and
then say, oh, well they one they can't help look
at them, well they look like nothing, or judging someone
(07:48):
and saying well, they're never going to amount to anything anyway,
so why should I help them? They're destined to be nothing.
It isn't for us to judge who isn't able or
who doesn't deserve. What is up for us to do
(08:13):
is even if the person doesn't look like they can
help us, God send them to us because they can help.
So be warm, accepting and grateful because the help is there.
(08:33):
It may not And that's the whole point is that
God doesn't always send the help in the way that
we think. In another episode, another one of my talks,
I talk about that we pray to God, we pray
(08:54):
to God for strength. Then instead of wam bam, we
have strength, we're strong, and we would walk around strutting
our strength. God sends us an opportunity to be strong
(09:15):
for someone else, to stand by someone else and help them.
He sends you to that person so that one Ultimately,
the person who needs help gets the help that they
actually need. Because God sent you and two so that
(09:41):
you can see for yourself that you can help, that
you are strong enough, that you have the might within you,
because who put the might there? Who put that strength there?
You see where this is going. God knows what's in
(10:04):
us because he put it there. He sent you to
that next person, gave you the opportunity to show so
that you can see yourself, witness for yourself what He
placed inside of you to answer your prayer. That's how
(10:33):
God works. It isn't. It isn't what we as human
beings think it should be. When we think of God,
we think of spite or try. I say smite that
(10:59):
He He's going to give us the ability to smite
somebody when we say we need strength, But He sends
us is compassion to lift another, another one of his
children up. So stop judging and learn to help start
(11:26):
your own ministry because ministry means a point of service.
He has given us the ability. God has given us
the ability to serve all of our fellow human beings.
(11:46):
He has given us talents. He's given us abilities, great
abilities when we actually use them, especially use them for
the purpose that He intended us to use them for.
And that's part of the point of boasting. But let
(12:09):
the one who boasts boasts in the Lord. He's going
to boast about what it is that he can do,
not in a er I am strong sort of way,
but in a I'm here, allow me to help and
(12:35):
assist you away. Well, we start to see the differences
of we start to become more compassionate people and believe
it or not, Look, there's there's a part of our
(12:55):
brain that that you know that there's a lot of
those corporate can trollers they don't want us to know
about it. There's a gland in the front of our
brain that allows us to see who is being compassionate,
(13:15):
who is working for God. And when we start to
be compassionate towards others and we start to let those
(13:36):
controls go, stop fighting for the latest, greatest stuff because
it's just stuff, and we allow our spirit to grow
as we serve. People can see by our example to serve,
(13:58):
also serve within our sphere of service to God himself
as we help our brothers and sisters, God's children. And
that's kind of what the point is. That's kind of
(14:23):
what God wants us to do. He wants us to
see that He has put within us the strength and
the ability to help another human being, to help in situations,
and have the wisdom to know when to do ourselves
(14:47):
or to look to a friend to assist us, so
that we can assist another one of our brothers and sisters,
to know when Okay, that's not my sphere, but it's
(15:08):
their sphere, so we'll invite them to help. When we
form a loving and compassionate community, people see it, They
see it within each other, and others want to move
(15:33):
into our community and partake in that love that we
are sharing. So it's a simple prayer. Shall we Lord,
just help us to understand our purpose, our sphere of
(15:56):
service to You, our sphere of service to our fellow
brothers and sisters around us. Give us that spirit so
that we're brave enough and wise enough to do what
(16:21):
is within us, what you placed there, and to know
when we should ask for others in our community to
help and join in. Allow us to be that walking
example of one of your workers. Allow us to minister
(16:48):
to our fellow human beings with compassion in only boasting
about this is what God you want us to do. Amen,
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